The Flash bosses on that surprising return

Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Tuesday’s episode of The Flash. Read at your own risk!

Things between Team Flash and Caitlin turned a little… frosty during Tuesday’s episode of The Flash.

After the team captured villain-from-the-future Abra Kadabra (David Dastmalchian), they were faced with a choice: He could provide Savitar’s identity if they let him walk free, or they could turn him over to Gypsy (Jessica Camacho), who would return him to Earth-19 to be slain for his crimes.

But Abra Kadabra escapes, severely wounding Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) in the process. In order to save her, Julian (Tom Felton) performed a makeshift surgery to save her after she refused to remove the necklace dampening her powers. But, at the close of the hour, as Caitlin began to crash, Julian ultimately removed the necklace in order to save her, leading to the return of Killer Frost — and bringing the future headline about Killer Frost one step closer to fruition.

Caitlin, therefore, came back to life, but as Killer Frost, who is not an ally to Team Flash. “She’s a very, very formidable adversary,” executive producer Aaron Helbing tells EW. “She has knowledge of everybody because she’s been friends with them, so she’s really going toward the dark side and we’re going for it.”

The move came after Caitlin decidedly refused to take the necklace off herself, explaining she’d rather die than become Killer Frost. “It’s not just Iris and Barry’s future that’s at stake, it’s also Caitlin’s, and watching her try to avoid her fate becomes tied in with Iris’ fate,” EP Andrew Kreisberg says. “At some point, do we have to make a choice?”

Does that choice involve that future vision in which Killer Frost squared off against Vibe (Carlos Valdes)? That remains to be seen — and see it we shall before season’s end. “Yes, you will,” Helbing confirms.

The question now remains whether Team Flash can keep Killer Frost from truly going full-on villain. “He tries to empathize as best as he can,” Grant Gustin says. “He’s not necessarily going through the same thing, but in a way, better than other people, he can empathize and understand that these powers are clouding her mind, [so he] just tries to help her fight through it.” Valdes add: “Some things are going to happen that the team won’t see coming. There’s only so much preparedness that you can have with things like this.”